Greene St. update

Grant can help fund residential redo of former Remington Rand

August 1, 2013

Today, it's a massive building with broken windows and few signs of life.

But the owners of the former Remington Rand-Kardex industrial site at 910 Greene St., one day hope to make the site a residential complex complete with a pool, tennis courts and a coffee shop.

Thanks to a $200,000 state grant, the 13.5-acre site in the middle of Marietta's Norwood district will move a step closer to becoming what the property owners hope will be an upscale residential and commercial development.

Article Photos

The money, from the Ohio Developmental Service Agency's Clean Ohio Assistance Fund, will be used to determine the suitability of the property for future development.

"This opens the door for an environmental study to determine whether there are any issues that have to be addressed as the property was an industrial site for the better part of a century," said John Walsh, senior vice president for corporate development with Promanco property management and real estate development company.

Promanco manages the Greene Street property for the owner, Two Rivers Development Ltd.

Fact Box

Grant awarded

A $200,000 Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant from the Ohio Development Service Agency has been approved to allow an environmental study of the former Remington Rand-Kardex industrial site at 910 Greene St.

The study will help the property owner, Two Rivers Development Ltd., determine what, if any, issues may exist that need to be addressed in order to develop the property into proposed residential and commercial facilities.

Source: Ohio Development Service Agency.

Walsh said an application for the funding assistance was submitted earlier this year with assistance from the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority. The proposal also received the blessing of Marietta's City Council members who passed a resolution of support for the grant application in May.

Stephanie Gostomski, communications officer for ODSA, said the funding allows testing to determine the property's condition and what work, if any, needs to be done before development can occur.

"The project, once completed, will be used as an all-inclusive residential community," she said in an email. "On-site services such as dry cleaning, coffee shops, exercise facilities, swimming pool, tennis courts and concierge services would be available to residents and the surrounding neighborhood."

Walsh said that's the ultimate proposal for the site, but a lot of work will have to be done to reach that stage, and a lot hinges on what the environmental study reveals.

"Our proposal looked at converting the facilities into residential living space-town homes and apartments-with a variety of retail and commercial services available on-site," he said, adding that those amenities would also be available to the entire community.

But Walsh noted any development plans are extremely preliminary at this point.

"We need to learn much more about the site first," he said. "This is all very notional until we get through this environmental study."

Currently the property consists of several buildings-the oldest estimated to have been constructed around 1914-as well as some open space that includes yards used for equipment storage. The front portion of the facilities, facing Greene Street, includes a large multi-story brick complex that surrounds a huge stone structure fronted with several columns that locals call the "bank building."

Two Rivers Development has owned the property for about 16 years now, Walsh said, adding that the buildings have been mainly used for storage during that time. Some equipment is stored there now, but a large portion of the brick complex is being used as a warehouse for sand used in the hydraulic shale fracturing process by oil and gas companies.

Jeff Starner, co-owner of Two Rivers Development with local businessman John Lehman, said the bank building has an auditorium in the back that was used to demonstrate the durability of safes for storing valuables, which was a product manufactured at the former Remington Rand plant.

"The original Underwriter's Laboratory standards for those products were established there," he said. "The property does have quite a history."

Walsh said the idea would be to preserve as much of the original property as possible if development proceeds as envisioned.

"We think it would be ideal for the Norwood community," he said.

Eric Oiler, owner of the Norwood Antique Mall located across the street from the industrial complex, said people who stop in his shop often ask about the bank building.

"Some folks from the Pittsburgh area were here recently and took several photos of the building," he said.

Oiler said he supports upgrading the property, but would like to see the bank building saved and incorporated into any development there.

"I think it would be great," she said. "There's not much in this area anymore, and I think a lot of people in the Norwood area would benefit."

Sudnik often walks an hour round trip to Marietta's downtown so her children can get to a swimming pool or other recreational facilities. She welcomes any development that would bring such facilities closer to home, she said.

Mary Eddy, owner of the Norwood Tavern, also located across Greene Street from the complex, also supported the idea of developing the property.

"I'm for anything that would lift up the community. This area could use some nice housing and apartments," she said.

Starner said the main reason behind Two Rivers Development's purchase of the property has always been a focus on upgrading the area.

"Our goal has been that this property would become an asset for the Marietta community," he said.

Walsh said the next step will be to contract with an independent agency to do the environmental study and determine if the property needs more attention in order for development plans to proceed. He hopes that process can be completed in 2014.